I participated in an Influencer Activation on behalf of Influence Central for Hasbro. I received product samples to facilitate my review as well as a promotional item to thank me for my participation.

As I’ve said many times before, one of the best parts of being a dad is getting to relive my favorite things from childhood alongside my son. It happens when I’m introducing a superhero, we’re watching a movie or playing a board game. Even an experience like the first day of kindergarten — telling him about mine, hearing about his. I get such a charge out of seeing things through his eyes.

And few things connect the generations like Play-Doh. Next to drawing, sculpting things from Play-Doh was my favorite form of creative expression as a tyke. And that seems to be pretty universal — every kid (and former kid) loves the doughy stuff, whether they end up being an artist or not.

To celebrate this universally awesome toy/craft/pastime/plaything, Hasbro has created something extra special for World Play-Doh Day on September 16. They’ll be hosting a virtual “parade” on their Facebook page, featuring sculpts showing the theme of national pride!

Jon and I had a fun time brainstorming what to create, and an even more fun creating it. Some of the rejected ideas: a rocket ship, Minecraft, an iPad, and pizza. But seeing as we live in the nation’s capital, it was only logical (once I explained what “national pride” meant) to do something from DC. And you can’t get more patriotic than Fourth of July fireworks on the National Mall!

We divided the tasks, with Jon tackling the strips of red, white, and blue to make the fireworks, and various shades of blue triangles to form the Reflecting Pool.

I worked on the Washington Monument, as well the “detail work” — a school of goldfish and a smiling crescent moon.

We set it up diorama-style on the kitchen counter with some green and blue construction paper and POW! BOOM! BANG! — our fireworks show was in full effect!

How can you participate?

1. Create. Grab the kids, pull out the Play-Doh (I know you’ve got some) and create something that says “National Pride.” Think outside the can (cuz everyone’s gonna do a flag) — it can be a landmark, animal, food, cultural icon, patriotic symbol, a sport, clothing, etc. (The only no-no’s are brand names or characters from pop culture.)

3. Repeat & share. Send in as many of your creations as you’d like, and invite your family and friends to Play-Doh along!

Here’s a short video showing some of the creations already entered from around the globe:

#WorldPlayDohDay won’t be the same without you! Show us a sculpt of what inspires you in the comments, and you could be featured in September on the BIG DAY!DISCLAIMER: Share your sculpts with us and it may be used in an album or video on World Play-Doh Day.

Some sculpts will be selected as part of the #WorldPlayDohDay Parade on September 16th, which will be prominently featured on Play-Doh’s Facebook page. My hunch? The more original, the more likely it is to be chosen.

So what are you waiting for? Time to get rolling (and smooshing, molding, extruding, pinching, latticing, piling, etc.)!